April 27th, 2011 by Dr. Val Jones in Opinion, Primary Care Wednesdays, True Stories
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A friend of mine is in great physical shape but her husband (we’ll call him “Mr. B”) has gained 40 pounds since they were married five years ago. He also has familial hypercholesterolemia, and several of his relatives have had heart attacks at young ages. Mrs. B is distraught – she is worried about her husband’s health, and has tried to gently nudge him towards healthier eating habits and regular exercise (as well as taking a statin for his cholesterol). Unfortunately, the nudges were received as nagging, and a wedge has formed between them in their relationship.
Last week my friend planned a trip to a primary care physician in the hopes that he would educate Mr. B about the dangers of being overweight and not treating his high cholesterol. “Surely Mr. B will listen to an expert” she thought, “then perhaps he’ll realize that he has to change his behavior.”
Unfortunately, the primary care physician didn’t offer any health counseling to Mr. B. Not only did he not mention that Mr. B should lose weight, but he didn’t provide any warnings about the dangers of untreated, very high cholesterol levels. He merely reported that Mr. B’s total cholesterol was 300, and that a statin was indicated.
Mrs. B was crestfallen. She was depending on the physician’s authoritative input to help her come up with a strategy to steer her husband towards better health. Now Mr. B was left with the impression that things were more-or-less ok, and that his wife’s concerns were exaggerated. Read more »
March 24th, 2011 by Happy Hospitalist in Health Tips, Humor, Medblogger Shout Outs
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A new blog has entered the medical world. She’s only a couple months old, but she has an awesome name: happy internist. happy internist shows us all how to die healthy:
my patient saw her gynecologist. he told her to eat right, get lots of exercise, and lose weight. that way, he said, you can die healthy.
What a great quote. It’s called finishing strong. Given what I know about the incredible pain and suffering I witness everyday from self induced disease, dying healthy is a goal worth living for. Death is inevitable. Dying healthy takes hard work and personal sacrifice.
She was discovered at this week’s Grand Rounds, where Dr Val has done an excellent job of organizing the best of this week’s Internet medical offerings.
*This blog post was originally published at The Happy Hospitalist*
March 23rd, 2011 by John Mandrola, M.D. in Health Policy, Humor
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In Washington, even exercise gets political.
This morning, the WSJ reported that a small group of Congressmen, primarily Republicans, have embraced the adrenaline-infused exercise regimen that is P90X. They jump, stretch and flex to the tune of Tony Horton, a man who clearly checked the right box on career day. The 90-day results-intensive program celebrates its “I couldn’t move the next day” sensations.
On the other side of the ideological spectrum resides the pragmatic approach of the White House. Last month, the NY Times described the regimented, non-boot-campish routine espoused by Mr and Mrs Obama. Our current executive branch favors a personal trainer who likes working people hard, but…”as politely as possible.” The president adheres to a common sense program of regular morning exercises that balances cardio and strength training. Calm, measured and balanced.
Both approaches to exercise appeal to me. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr John M*
March 18th, 2011 by RamonaBatesMD in Health Tips, Humor
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Earlier this week there was an article in the NY Times by Tara Parker-Pope —Forget the Treadmill. Get a Dog. — which states in a more elegant way what I have been saying for years now.
……Several studies now show that dogs can be powerful motivators to get people moving. …..
Just last week, researchers from Michigan State University reported that among dog owners who took their pets for regular walks, 60 percent met federal criteria for regular moderate or vigorous exercise. …….
A study of 41,500 California residents also looked at walking among dog and cat owners as well as those who didn’t have pets. Dog owners were about 60 percent more likely to walk for leisure than people who owned a cat or no pet at all. ……..
I have called my dog Rusty my personal trainer. He never lets me off the hook. We walk daily regardless of the weather (hot, cold, rain, snow). Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Suture for a Living*
March 16th, 2011 by RyanDuBosar in Better Health Network, Research
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Obesity contributes to cardiovascular risk no matter where a person carries the weight, concluded researchers after looking at outcomes for nearly a quarter-million people worldwide.
Body mass index, (BMI) waist circumference, and waist-to-hip ratio do not predict cardiovascular disease risk any better when physicians recorded systolic blood pressure, history of diabetes and cholesterol levels, researchers reported in The Lancet.
The research group used individual records from 58 prospective studies with at least one year of follow up. In each study, participants were not selected on the basis of having previous vascular disease. Each study provided baseline for weight, height, and waist and hip circumference. Cause-specific mortality or vascular morbidity were recorded according to well defined criteria.
Individual records included 221,934 people in 17 countries. In people with BMI of 20 kg/m2 or higher, hazard ratios for cardiovascular disease were 1.23 (95 percent CI, 1.17 to 1.29) with BMI, 1.27 (95 percent CI, 1.20 to 1.33) with waist circumference, and 1.25 (95 percent CI, 1.19 to 1.31) with waist-to-hip ratio, after adjustment for age, sex, and smoking status. After adjusting for baseline systolic blood pressure, history of diabetes, and total and HDL cholesterol, corresponding hazard rations were 1.07 (95 percent CI, 1.03 to 1.11) with BMI, 1.10 (95 percent CI, 1.05 to 1.14) with waist circumference, and 1.12 (95 percent CI, 1.08 to 1.15) with waist-to-hip ratio.
BMI, waist circumference, or waist-to-hip ratio did not importantly improve risk discrimination or predicted 10-year risk, and the findings remained the same when adiposity — the carrying of adipose tissue (fat) — measures were considered. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
